Microsoft’s Activision Deal Hangs on Long-Shot FTC Accord

Microsoft Corp.’s best chance to win approval for its $69 billion Activision Blizzard Inc. deal from US regulators is to persuade the Biden administration to accept a settlement in which the Xbox maker pledges it won’t withhold its popular titles from rivals.

That’s a very long shot given Biden’s antitrust enforcers aren’t fond of such agreements -- especially after this month’s Ticketmaster blowup put the spotlight back on a failed 2010 Justice Department settlement with Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Antitrust officials in the UK and Australia have raised concerns the takeover would give Microsoft an overwhelming advantage in ...